A Kalterer on the verge of reaching the ice hockey Olympus

If you talk to Thomas Di Pauli about his past in Kalteren, he easily gets into raptures. “What do I miss a lot? Eating a schnitzel with the boys in the ice bar after training,” says the now 25-year-old with a smile. Di Pauli, the son of a Kaltern man and an American woman, was born in South Tyrol and grew up in Kaltern. He took his first steps as an ice hockey player wearing the Kalterer Hechte uniform. Even back then you could see that the boy had great abilities - and not just because he was able to win the Italian championship title with the Hechte U12 and later also with the HC Bozen U14.

But his time in Kaltern came to an early end. When he was a teenager, Di Pauli and his family moved to the USA, the country of birth of his mother Christina. Although the step from the 8.000-person village of Kaltern into the great America was a very big one, Di Pauli immediately found his way around - especially on the ice surface. It's not surprising that the left-handed shooter's success curve immediately rose steeply. In other words: being called up to the US U national team, winning a world championship with the U18 team and finally the highlight when he was drafted by the NHL team Washington Capitals in 2012.

The big breakthrough has so far been denied Di Pauli has thus opened the door to the NHL, the best ice hockey league in the world, but he has not yet managed to enter the hockey Olympus. Through the Notre Dame university team, he ended up with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who also play in the NHL but always loaned Di Pauli to their own farm team. In the last three years, the Kalter native played in the American Hockey League, where he played 108 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and scored 37 points.

Di Pauli celebrates winning the World Cup with the USA U18s.

A big reason why Di Pauli hasn't made it into the best league in the world yet is his bad luck with injuries. Best example last season. “I played good ice hockey in the first half of the year, but then I got injured and missed the rest of the season,” said Di Pauli in an interview SportNews .

“If I stay healthy for a season, I have what it takes to play in the NHL.” Thomas Dipauli The fact that the Kalterer, who has both an Italian and a US passport, is thought highly of in Pittsburgh despite the many injuries became clear this summer when the Penguins extended his expiring contract by one year - annual salary: $700.000 . “From Sunday I will go to training camp with the NHL team. I definitely want to leave a lasting impression there and do everything I can to get a place in the squad,” says Di Pauli combatively. He knows: “If I stay healthy for a season, I have what it takes to play in the NHL. This year will be my year.”

For the 25-year-old, everything revolves around ice hockey all day long. “In order to be as prepared as possible for games and training, I follow a diet plan and do a lot of yoga,” said Di Pauli, who graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in marketing. Fishing on Lake Kaltern and a great promise Although Di Pauli is now fully established as a professional in the USA, he always looks back fondly on his time in South Tyrol. “Growing up in Kaltern was the most exciting thing that could have happened to me as a child,” enthuses the ice hockey star, who immediately makes a big promise: “One day, after a wonderful career here in the USA, I want to start my career as an ice hockey player. Let players end at Kaltern.”

What memories does he have of his old home? “I remember the great friendships and the great people in Kaltern,” says Di Pauli, who definitely wants to visit the Überetscher village again. “Just to go fishing with my childhood friends at Lake Kaltern or go on a hike through Altenburg. I miss those things.”

But before Di Pauli comes to Kaltern again, he wants to fulfill his dream of the NHL. If he actually makes his debut for Pittsburgh (a five-time Stanley Cup winner, by the way) this year, then there will be a little touch of Kalterer flair in the best ice hockey league in the world in the future.

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A Kalterer on the verge of reaching the ice hockey Olympus

The name Thomas Di Pauli probably doesn't mean anything to many South Tyrolean ice hockey fans. The crack, who grew up in Kaltern, is about to make his debut in the best league in the world.

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